See Denzel Washington Seemingly Have Tense Interaction With Photographer On The Red Carpet (According To A Lip Reader)

The Cannes Film Festival is usually a celebration where some of the best early movies of the year are screened. However, any time you have a lot of people in one place, you can be sure there will be some conflicts, and a recent red carpet interaction with Denzel Washington did not go smoothly for anyone involved.

A video has recently gone viral on X that shows Denzel Washington appearing to get upset with somebody at the premiere of his new film with Spike Lee, Highest 2 Lowest. Washington starts pointing at somebody, and whatever he’s saying to the person clearly isn’t happy. Check it out.

The Daily Mail brought in a lip reader named Jeremy Freeman to attempt to understand what Washington was saying to the photographer. According to the lip reader, after Denzel turns to address the photographer, he supposedly says:

Going back and looking at the video, you can see a hand reach out and touch Denzel on the arm, seemingly to try to get him to turn for a picture, which is apparently what the Oscar winner took issue with, leading to the heated exchange. Interestingly, the heat appears to be one-sided as the photographer is smiling the entire time, and even reaches out to grab Denzel’s arm a second time.

This is a pretty wild interaction. Celebrities and photographers certainly don’t always get along, and it’s not entirely uncommon for photographers to get a little aggressive in their attempts to get a picture or for the celebrity in question to take exception to those attempts. Red carpets are wild places where everybody is trying to get the attention of the stars for a question or a picture.

We've seen interactions between celebrities and photographers devolve into lawsuits before. Justin Bieber was sued for running over the foot of a photographer trying to get a picture. Other celebrities have filed lawsuits when photographers overstepped their bounds.

I think most people would agree that Denzel getting a little upset over being grabbed so nonchalantly is justified. Most people wouldn’t appreciate being grabbed by strangers, even in a public place like a red carpet, where one expects to be interacting with other people. Just because people are famous doesn’t mean they give up their personal space.

One certainly hopes this is the most stressful red carpet encounter between a photographer and a celebrity. Cannes is supposed to be a celebration of movies and the people that make them, and I, for one, hope we can leave those people alone beyond the normal asking questions and taking pictures. If you need to touch them, maybe try a handshake or a high five.